In the last month, my family has experienced three address changes. John Paul and Melissa have moved from the apartment right behind the ballpark to the apartment building where he and I lived when we moved here 14 years ago. Jason and Page are getting ready to move to Apache Junction. And I have changed my email address. (The new address is in effect, but I can be reached at the old one for about a month.)

This is not the first time the kids have moved, but I have a little more experience in that. And I have to admit that my change of email is becoming more difficult than I thought. But in the end, I think that the change in email servers is going to be beneficial.

Sometime in our lives we all need to make an address change spiritually. Once when talking with an older gentleman about matters of faith, he asked me, "I know what you say, but where do you live?" Indeed, where do I live? The question asked had to do with my conduct. Was the way that I live an accurate reflection of what I profess? I must confess that it is not 100 % of the time, but I hope that it is most of the time. When it is not, I trust the Lord for forgiveness as I repent and pray for it.

Paul told us, "I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called" (Eph. 4:1). Then he wrote to the Philippians, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ: that, whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your state, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27). We are to behave ourselves in a way that is consistent with what the Bible teaches.

The goodness of God is to be reflected in the things we do. Peter said, "But ye are a elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9). The King James Version uses the term "praises" instead of excellencies. The Greek term is arete, which Thayer defines as "moral goodness," and Vincent says means simply "virtue." Can the goodness of God be seen in my behavior? "Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). Where do you live? Do you need to change your address?

There is another way of looking at this. Many good people are lost because they are not in Christ. Jesus said, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). It is only in Jesus that we have access to the father. John wrote, "And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son" (1 John 5:11). And Paul said, "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Tim 2:10). "And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Only if we are living at the right place can we be saved. That place is in Jesus!

After my 3^rd year of college, I didn’t know where I lived. My parents moved twice without telling me. (Actually, my brother beat them to the phone the first time, and the 2^nd time I was on the road making my way home.) It could be that you believe you are living in Christ, but you are still living in the world. One makes a conscious decision to live in Christ, but he must also be sure that his address is indeed changed. Paul asked, "Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" (Rom. 6:3). How does one change his address to be in Christ? "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). If one has not been baptized, they are not living in Christ, but in their past sins. "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16). An address change is called for.

I was filling out a form the other day that asked for my "home address." I sort of chuckled to myself and started humming the tune, "This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through …" In the Bible, Christians are described as "sojourners and pilgrims" (1 Pet. 2:11). Paul talked about death in positive terms: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if to live in the flesh,-- if this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I know not. But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better" (Phil. 1:21-23). Being with Jesus is joy and comfort. Paul says that it is home. "Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight); we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:6-8).

There are only two "home addresses," spiritually speaking. There is heaven and hell. Our home address is determined by our temporary address here on the earth. Are we in Christ, or do we belong to this world? Are you in Christ? Have you been baptized? And if you have been baptized, where do you live? Is your life consistent with your profession?

Is it time to change your address?

By the way, my new email is <sonnybaker@cableaz.com>.